Depakine scandal: “I wanted to seek Sanofi's conviction, I am ready to continue the fight”, assures Marine Martin

La lanceuse d’alerte Marine Martin. Midi Libre – MICHAEL ESDOURRUBAILH

The Paris judicial court ordered Sanofi, on Monday, September 9, to pay 285,000 euros to Marine Martin, president of the association of Depakine victims gathered within Apesac for “failure to inform” and “lack of vigilance”, in compensation for the disabilities suffered by her children, born under Depakine.

“We won, I can't believe it, I'm still in shock” : twelve years after filing a complaint against Sanofi, Marine Martin, a whistleblower living in Pollestres, in the Pyrénées-Orientales, won a major victory in court against the laboratory on Monday.

Sanofi sentenced, you were hoping for it ?

I didn't believe it anymore, after twelve years of proceedings. The insurmountable mountain of the statute of limitations was almost impossible to overcome, and that's why I had encouraged my children to accept compensation from Oniam (National Office for Compensation of Medical Accidents), which was a cut-rate compensation. They didn't want to undergo expert assessments anymore. My husband, who doesn't want to hear about legal proceedings anymore, had also accepted compensation from Oniam.

I was offered 16,000 euros, it's ridiculous. I wanted to go get the conviction.

That you finally got…

At the end of 2023, there was a decision on Covid that gave us hope: a laboratory was judged on the fault regime. We understood that it was possible to obtain a conviction on the fault regime.

On April 22, when I went to Paris for the pleading, I found the judge quite attentive, I told myself that we might have a chance of winning, without really believing it. I heard the news on the train, while I was on my way to Paris, I was crying all by myself. It was a bit surreal.

It's twelve years of fighting.

They were convicted on the grounds that Depakine was defective, and were unable to assert the ten-year limitation period.

“Today, my daughter does not want a child because she is afraid of the transgenerational effect of Depakine”

That is to say ?

The prescription of the facts, ten years after taking a medication, is an exonerating cause, called “exception for risk of development” : the laboratory can invoke the fact that scientific knowledge did not allow, during my pregnancies and over the ten-year period that followed, to detect a problem.

If we had placed ourselves in that context, my children were too old to allow a conviction. The previous convictions of Sanofi, obtained at the Nanterre court, were on “easy” cases, children born after 2006. This time, the judge dismissed this exonerating cause. Sanofi was convicted of negligence on the lack of information, and on the fact that Depakine did not offer the safety that women could claim.

You were hoping for such significant compensation ?

No. In front of the Nanterre court, a family had won 35,000 euros instead of 16,000 euros. Getting 80,000 euros only on the loss of professional income is already enormous. It is a form of recognition that I had to stop my professional career to take care of my disabled child. I feel at peace.

And the damages suffered by your husband and children are recognized…

There are poles of prejudice. Oniam had not recognized everything, in particular the prejudice of anxiety. We went looking for that: today, for example, my daughter does not want a child because she is afraid of the transgenerational effect of Depakine. This is also mentioned in the decision and it is strong.

But the amount that was allocated to us will be blocked, because Sanofi will appeal.

Are you sure about that??

Yes, it is still the case, I am certain that Sanofi will go all the way to the Court of Cassation.

What are the prospects opened up by the judgment of the judicial court of Paris ?

Open up to other families, who also have adult children, to file a complaint before the court. This is very important. Until now, families who had “old” children only had Oniam as a prospect of compensation. A new door is opening. The judge made a very courageous decision that I hope will remotivate the families.

And you are also already looking towards the prospect of a criminal trial?

Yes, I hope the investigation will be closed by the end of 2024, which means that we will not have a trial date before 2026. We have taken a big step forward, after winning the class action in 2022. But the fight will continue. The criminal case is looming and the confrontations will be tough. I am ready to continue the fight.

Children continue to be born under Depakine ?

According to the ANSM, this is the case for 220 children each year, which is far too many. Families continue to contact me.

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